Senate

DOJ ‘working’ to share info on classified Trump, Biden docs with senators: reports

by Julia Mueller - 01/29/23 8:28 PM ET

Senate Intelligence Committee leaders Mark Warner, D-Va., left, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., hold a hearing on worldwide threats as Russia continues to attack Ukraine, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, March 10, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has told Senate Intelligence Committee members that it is working to provide more information on the classified documents found at the homes of President Biden and former President Trump.

“We are working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to support the provision of information that will satisfy the Committee’s responsibilities without harming the ongoing Special Counsel investigations,” reads a letter from Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte obtained by CBS News.

Uriarte’s letter reportedly tells Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) and ranking member Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that the DOJ attempted to brief lawmakers on the documents and related national security risks last fall — though it doesn’t disclose why those efforts fell through.

Warner and Rubio have been pressing the DOJ to allow the Intel panel access to the classified documents found at the Biden and Trump properties, concerned about what type of sensitive information the materials may have included.

“We can’t do our job,” Warner told CBS News in an interview alongside Rubio. “That just cannot stand.”

More than 300 classified documents have been retrieved from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and club, including in an FBI search last summer, more than a year after the former president left office, prompting the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the materials.

A smaller number of classified documents have been discovered in recent weeks from Biden’s time as vice president and as a senator at his Delaware home and a previous D.C. office. A separate special counsel was then appointed to probe the discoveries.

“Although one of the Special Counsels was appointed only on January 12, prosecutors on both matters are actively working to enable sharing information with the Committee,” Uriarte wrote.

A section of the letter shared by CNN says the DOJ “looks forward to continuing to engage with the Committee to meet its needs while protecting the Department’s interests.”

The Hill has reached out to Rubio, Warner and the DOJ for comment.